read better remember more_part6 pps

WORD CHOICE AND PONT OF VIEW 171 Point of View Pronouns Effects 1st person I, me, mine, Intimacy between the writer and we, our, us reader. Suggests objectivity; based on the experience of the speaker or writer 2nd person You Puts the reader in the writer’s shoes. 3rd person He, him, his; Creates distance between the she, her, hers; writer and reader. Suggests it, its; they, objectivity; not influenced by the them, theirs. thoughts and feelings of the writer. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS BASED ON POINT OF VIEW The point of view writers use can help you to make inferences about how they feel about their subjects. For example, look again at the two sentences referring directly to the reader: A. We wish you well in your retirement, Joe. B. The company wishes you well in your retirement. If you were Joe, which message would you rather receive? Most people would probably prefer to receive memo A. Why? What’s the difference between these two messages? They both say the same thing, don’t they? Point of view, like word choice, helps create the meaning of a message. The writers of both memo A and memo B address the reader as “you.” But you probably also noticed that the writers chose two different points of view to refer to themselves. Memo A uses the first person “we” (and addresses the reader directly as “Joe”) whereas memo B uses the third person (“the company”) to refer to the sender. As a result, memo A seems more sincere; it comes from a person to a person, rather than from “the company” (a thing) to a person. This is trial version www.adultpdf.com READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE 172 What does this tell you? From the point of view, what can you tell about the attitude of these memo writers toward their subject (Joe)? Writer B, by using the third person point of view, suggests that there is— and that he’d like to keep—a distance between the reader and the writer. Writer A, on the other hand, doesn’t mind the person-to-person “contact” created by the first person point of view. Memo B sends the unwritten message, “Let’s not get too close or personal—let’s keep our distance.” Memo A, on the other hand, uses the first person to say, “We’re real people here at the head office. We acknowl- edge you as a person and you can acknowledge us as people, too.” Thus, point of view reflects the way the senders wish to be perceived (as a distant thing or a friendly person). Word choice also shows you how the senders perceive their subjects. Memo A acknowledges the reader as a real person with a name whereas in Memo B, the reader is an employee who remains nameless. P RACTICE 3 Read the sentences below and answer the questions that follow. Sentence A: I think our new office policy is a failure. Sentence B: The new office policy appears to be a failure. 1. Which point of view does Sentence A use? a. first person b. second person c. third person 2. Which point of view does Sentence B use? a. first person b. second person c. third person 3. Which sentence do you think is more effective in the following situa- tions? Why? a. Submitting a complaint to office management. b. Informally complaining to a co-worker. Answers 1. Sentence A uses a, the first person point of view. This is trial version www.adultpdf.com WORD CHOICE AND PONT OF VIEW 173 2. Sentence B uses c, the third person point of view. 3. a. In this situation, Sentence B would be more effective because someone from the outside (a third person, not the reader or writer) is judging the policy. The third person point of view is almost always considered to be more objective because the third person is not directly involved in the action. The first person I,however,is directly involved in the action (the policy) and therefore cannot have a truly objective opinion about the policy’s success or failure. That doesn’t mean, however, that a first-person opinion is neces- sarily less valid or that a third person point of view is always objec- tive. It just appears that way. You’ll have to think critically about the specific situation to decide how much weight the opinion carries. b. In such an informal situation, Sentence A would certainly be appropriate and more effective. HOW WORD CHOICE AND POINT OF VIEW HELP YOU REMEMBER By being more aware of the words and point of view writers choose to convey their ideas, you’ll be able to understand much more of what you read. And when you understand more, you can remember more. As you build your observation skills and your understanding of the way words work on different levels, you’ll be more aware of language. Then you’ll be able to remember ideas more easily and accurately. This is trial version www.adultpdf.com READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE 174 IN SHORT Looking carefully at a writer’s word choice can help you determine how the writer feels about her subject. Because words have both a denotation and a connotation, they can suggest meaning indirectly. Point of view is the perspective the writer uses to refer both to herself and to the reader. The first person point of view creates intimacy between the reader and writer, the second person point of view addresses the reader directly, and the third person point of view suggests objectivity and distance. Skill Building Until Next Time 1. Think about the words you choose when you speak to people. Do you use different types of words for different people? Do you think carefully about what you say and which words you will use? How aware are you of your own diction? 2. Notice how much the meaning of a sentence can change when a single word is altered. Form a simple sentence, like: “Eating junk food will make you sick.” Now, replace sick with synonyms that have slightly different meanings and connotations, like unhealthy, feeble, ill, dying, and under the weather. Each word will express a slightly different attitude about your subject to the reader. Insert synonyms into your sentence and see how much the meaning is altered. Choose words like rich, happy,or sad that have many synonyms with a wide range of connotations. This is trial version www.adultpdf.com 175 CHAPTER 17 D ETERMINING T ONE Your ability to determine tone can determine whether or not you understand what a writer is trying to say. This chapter shows you how to analyze word choice and point of view to “hear” the tone of a written text. ay this word out loud: “Sure.” How did you say it? Did you say it with a smile, as in “Sure, any time”? Or did you say it flatly, as if responding to a command? Or did you stretch the word out, “Suuuure,” a s if you didn’t believe what someone just said to you? Or did you ask it, as in, “Are you sure this is okay?” Perhaps you didn’t realize there were so many ways to say this one word, “sure.” But there are. Why? The word itself doesn’t change, so there can’t be any change in denotation or connotation. So how can the same word express so many different things? S This is trial version www.adultpdf.com READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE 176 The difference in the meaning of all of these sures comes from the tone. How you say the word determines what you mean by it and how your listeners will feel when they hear you say it. Your tone of voice conveys your message. When you speak and listen, you can hear the tone of your own and the other’s voice.You know what someone means when he says “sure.” But how do you determine tone in writing when you can’t actually hear the writer’s voice? How do you know whether to whisper “sure” or shout it out loud? Fortunately, tone, like the meaning of unfamiliar words, can be determined from context. Think about how tone is created in speech. When you say “sure,” your tone changes accord- ing to how loudly or softly you say the word and how slowly or quickly you say it. Tone is also conveyed by a speaker’s expressions and body language. In writing, of course, you do not have these auditory and visual clues. But you do have plenty of written clues to help you determine tone. These clues come both from the writer’s word choice (diction) and the point of view. HOW POINT OF VIEW AND WORD CHOICE CREATE TONE It may help you to think of a sentence as a collection of ingredients (words and phrases) that result in a dish (an idea). Word choice and point of view are like the spices you use to give your dish a certain flavor. Different spices will result in different flavors or different tones. And tone, in turn, helps reveal how the writer feels about her subject. For example, look at the two letters below. Both convey essentially the same information. But they have two rather different tones, and therefore they have two different effects on the reader. Pay particular attention to word choice and point of view to see how these different tones are created. A. Thank you for your request. A catalog has been sent to your address. It should arrive shortly. Your interest is appreciated. B. Thank you for requesting our catalog. You should receive a copy in a few days. We look forward to your business. What’s Tone? Tone is the mood or attitude conveyed by words or speech. This is trial version www.adultpdf.com DETERMINING TONE 177 Which of these letters has a more positive tone? Which one has a more positive effect on the reader? Why? What do you notice about Letter B that is different from Letter A? Perhaps you notice that Letter B uses key words like “look forward,” “your business,” “for you,” and “in a few days.” Letter B also uses the first person point of view to represent its writers. It’s our catalog, not a cata- log; we put it in the mail and we look forward to your business. Letter B is warmer, friendlier, more human, and more likely to get the reader’s business than the distant, unfriendly Letter A. VARIETIES OF TONE Just as there are endless varieties of tone of voice, there are also endless varieties of tone in writing. Here’s a list of some of the more common words used to describe a writer’s tone: apologetic foreboding insecure authoritative gloomy insincere bored hopeful ironic cheerful humorous playful complementary angry sad critical bitter sarcastic demanding urgent sincere disrespectful indifferent threatening hesitant forceful reluctant eager excited enthusiastic suspicious skeptical If any of these terms are unfamiliar to you, look them up in a dictio- nary right now. You may need them in the following exercise. P RACTICE 1 Look at the sentences below to see if you can correctly identify their tone. As you read them, think of how the passages sound. Read them aloud. With what kind of voice do you read? What’s your tone? Use your obser- vation skills to choose the correct tone for each sentence or paragraph. Make sure you can support your answer with specific observations about point of view and word choice. Write your observations and notes on a This is trial version www.adultpdf.com READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE 178 separate sheet of paper. When you are finished, read the answers and explanations that follow. 1. I need to see you in my office the second this meeting is over! a. gloomy b. urgent c. bitter 2. If it’s not too much trouble, do you think maybe you could come into my office after this meeting, if you don’t mind? a. cheerful b. hopeful c. insecure 3. A person should not speak that way in front of his supervisor if he wishes to keep his job. a. threatening b. humorous c. sincere 4. You shouldn’t say things like that in front of the boss. You could jeop- ardize your job. a. threatening b. humorous c. sincere 5. You have the biggest interview of your life scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9:00. You pick out your suit, iron a shirt, and polish your shoes. You double check the bus map and schedule. You set your alarm early so you can catch the 7:45 bus, which will get you there by 8:10, just in case. Then, during the night, a storm hits and knocks out the electricity. Your alarm doesn’t go off, and you wake up at 9:15. a. humorous b. ironic c. angry This is trial version www.adultpdf.com DETERMINING TONE 179 6. I had the biggest interview of my life scheduled for Tuesday morning at 9:00. Monday night, I picked out my suit, ironed a shirt, and polished my shoes. I double checked the bus map and schedule. I set my alarm early so I could catch the 7:45 bus, which would get me there by 8:10, just in case. Then, during the night, a storm hit and knocked out the electricity. My alarm didn’t go off and I woke up at 9:15. I can’t believe it! a. sad b. disrespectful c. angry Answers 1. b. Several things indicate an urgent tone: the word need, the phrase “the second this meeting is over,” and the exclamation point all suggest immediacy and urgency. 2. c. This writer is insecure; “If it’s not too much trouble, “do you think maybe,” and “if you don’t mind” show that this person is worried that the reader won’t agree to what he desires. 3. a. The tone here is threatening. One clue is that the writer uses the third person to distance herself from the reader. If the writer were trying to be helpful, she would be more personal. This distance also suggests that the writer is “talking down to” the reader. 4. c. Here, the writer uses the second person to address the reader which immediately creates a feeling of closeness. There is nothing in this passage to indicate a threat or humor. The writer is simply being honest and sincere. 5. b. Irony is the mood created when things happen in a manner that is opposite of what was expected to happen. Here, the writer puts you in his shoes by using the second person pronoun “you” to describe a frustrating experience that readers can relate to. Because the writer uses “you,” you get the feeling that he is describing an imag- inary scenario rather than something he actually experienced, so you can’t say the tone is angry. In addition, the ellipsis ( ) holds off the final word to increase the sense of suspense and irony. This is trial version www.adultpdf.com READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE 180 6. c. Here, the writer uses the first person point of view as if he is describing a real experience. If this is a real experience, he has a right to be upset and angry. The added sentence “I can’t believe it” adds to the angry tone. In other words, the writer is saying, “I did so much to make sure I was there early. I didn’t deserve this.” USING CONTEXT TO DETERMINE TONE Let’s take another look at the word that opened this chapter, sure.To determine the tone of this word, you need some context. See if you can determine the tone of sure in the context of this brief exchange: Seth: “Will you help me?” Amanda: “Sure. As soon as I’m done living.” Now, it should be clear that Amanda isn’t about to stop what she’s doing to help Seth. In fact, her second sentence suggests that she will never help Seth. The tone in which she says sure could best be described as sarcastic and disrespectful. PRACTICE 2 Determine the tone for sure in the following passages: 1. Seth: “You’ll help me, won’t you?” Amanda:“Uh sure,I guess ifyou really want me to.” a. indifferent b. reluctant c. playful d. sincere 2. Seth: “Are you going to help?” Amanda: “Sure thing! I’ll be right there.” a. urgent b. regretful c. uncertain d. enthusiastic This is trial version www.adultpdf.com [...]... TONE CAN HELP YOU REMEMBER WHAT YOU READ Determining tone is not just important for understanding what you read It’s also an important tool for remembering what you read That’s because tone, like visualization, adds another “sense” to your reading experience Visualization helps you “see” what you read, so you’re much more likely to remember it Similarly, if you can see and hear what you read, you engage... what you read, you engage yet another sense in the reading experience As a result, you’re more likely to remember what you read If you can hear the writer’s tone of voice, you can better remember what the writer is saying And because tone is so closely related to the main idea, remembering the tone of voice can help you recall the main idea as well Remember, both tone and the main idea show what the... details This is trial version www.adultpdf.com 183 184 READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE and how word choice and point of view create tone, you can make observations that will enable you to find main ideas even when they’re not explicitly stated When there’s no clear topic sentence stating the main idea, you can create one so that you can better remember what you read To review, a main idea: • Says something about... sure way to help you remember it This doesn’t mean, of course, that you should sit down and copy a book cover to cover That wouldn’t serve any purpose It does mean, however, that you take the ideas in the text you’re reading and put those ideas into your own words You can do this by summarizing or paraphrasing what you read This is trial version www.adultpdf.com 191 192 READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE WRITING... YOU REMEMBER Of course, the ability to find an implied main idea is as important to reading retention as being able to find a clearly stated main idea Remember, ideas in paragraphs work to support a larger idea that holds them together, and paragraphs work together to support an overall main idea in the larger text Finding the main idea enables you to remember the most important parts of what you read. .. understanding and remembering what you read is to take a writer’s ideas and put them into your own words This chapter will show you how to summarize and paraphrase what you read A 19 PUTTING IT IN YOUR OWN WORDS sure sign that you understand something is that you can explain it to someone else Similarly, if you really understand something you read, you should be able to “rewrite” it And rewriting what you read. .. 181 182 READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE I N S HORT Tone is the mood or attitude conveyed by words or speech In writing, tone is suggested by word choice and point of view Writers use tone to help convey meaning, so you need to look carefully for clues in the writer’s language and style to determine how writers want their words to sound An ability to determine tone will help you better understand and remember. .. reimbursement at all This is trial version www.adultpdf.com 185 186 READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE What is this writer suggesting? a You should be glad you have 50 percent tuition reimbursement b You should go to another company c Soon there will be no tuition reimbursement at all Answer The correct answer is a: The writer is suggesting that readers should be glad they have 50 percent tuition reimbursement... that help the ego control the id For example, a child wants a toy that belongs This is trial version www.adultpdf.com 193 194 READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE to another child (id) He checks his environment to see if it’s possible to take that toy (ego) He can, and does But then he remembers that it’s wrong to take something that belongs to someone else (superego), and returns the toy to the other child Answer... details of the office show that it’s so small, it’s suffocating First of all, the writer puts “office” in quotation marks This suggests that it’s not This is trial version www.adultpdf.com 187 188 READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE even suitable to be called an office Second, the writer uses the word “whopping” to describe the room’s dimensions Did you “hear” the sarcastic tone that “whopping” creates? In addition, . much more of what you read. And when you understand more, you can remember more. As you build your observation skills and your understanding of the way words work on different levels, you’ll be more. more aware of language. Then you’ll be able to remember ideas more easily and accurately. This is trial version www.adultpdf.com READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE 174 IN SHORT Looking carefully at a writer’s. engage yet another sense in the reading experience. As a result, you’re more likely to remember what you read. If you can hear the writer’s tone of voice, you can better remember what the writer is